The=20
key Millennium Goal of halving poverty in a decade cannot be =
met=20
without better environmental protection, according to a new=20
report.=20

The World Resources 2005 document says that most of the =
world's=20
poor depend on nature for their income.=20

Its authors say a focus on aid has taken attention away =
from more=20
complex issues such as the environment.=20

The report is endorsed by the UN, and comes two weeks =
before a=20
major summit to review progress on the Goals.

In the Millennium Goals, the =
environment=20
was treated as an afterthought

Jonathan Lash, World Resources=20
Institute

Pertinent=20
publication=20

World Resources is a biennial publication from the =
US-based=20
research group the World Resources Institute (WRI).=20

The release of this year's edition, sub-titled Managing=20
Ecosystems to Fight Poverty, is particularly pertinent, =
coming as it=20
does in the run-up to the UN World Summit, which will see=20
representatives of more than 190 countries gather in New =
York to=20
review progress on the Millennium Goals adopted by world =
leaders=20
five years ago.=20

The first and possibly most important of those goals is =
to halve=20
the number of people living in poverty, defined as less than =
US$1=20
per day, by 2015. This a particular issue for sub-Saharan =
Africa.=20

"We have=20
the Millennium Goals summit coming up, we have Tony Blair =
making=20
Africa and poverty a major theme within the G8 - there's =
never been=20
a time when poverty has been higher on the agenda," the =
WRI's=20
President Jonathan Lash told the BBC News website.=20

"But if we don't make the key linkages between poverty, =
the=20
environment and good governance, it will be impossible to =
achieve=20
the poverty target.=20

"Seventy-five percent of the world's poor are rural poor, =
who=20
depend directly on natural systems for their livelihood."=20

in several Indonesian islands, training local people =
to=20
document and report illegal logging protected forests and =
allowed=20
the growth of activities such as river fishing which =
depend on=20
trees for their sustainability

"In=20
the Millennium Goals, the environment was treated as an=20
afterthought," he told the BBC News website.=20

"And I think there has been a tendency to focus on big=20
global-scale issues like aid, trade and debt relief; these =
things=20
are necessary but not sufficient.=20

"Focussing on the needs of the rural poor is harder =
because it=20
tends to go one community at a time, and it doesn't give the =
quick=20
payback that I think we sometimes demand of global leaders - =
you=20
know, 'do something big that we can see on our TV screens =
tonight'."=20

But unless the importance of the environment is grasped =
and acted=20
upon, the report concludes that the key Millennium Goal on =
poverty=20
will not be met.=20

Disappearing world=20

A foreword co-written by senior figures in the World Bank =
and the=20
United Nations Environment and Development Programmes notes =
the=20
devastating figures which emerged earlier this year from a =
four-year=20
study of global environmental decline, the Millennium =
Ecosystem=20
Assessment:=20

organisms are disappearing at 100 to 1,000 times the=20
"background levels" seen in the fossil record

a third of all amphibians, a fifth of mammals and an =
eighth of=20
all birds are threatened with extinction

"If=20
the natural resource base is not managed for the long term, =
if it is=20
exploited and polluted for short-term gain, it will never =
provide=20
the fuel for economic development on the scale demanded to =
relieve=20
poverty," the World Resources foreword says.=20

This is the latest in a stream of reports which have =
publicly=20
doubted the will and ability of the global community to =
ensure the=20
Goals are met, particularly in Africa, though it is unique =
so far in=20
linking that lack of progress to environmental concerns.=20

There is also concern that leaders of the developed world =
have=20
chosen to downgrade the importance of the Millennium Goals =
at the=20
World Summit, which opens on 14 September, and focus instead =
on=20
security and terrorism.=20